Scope grows for Rotary Club of Holland’s Ethiopian mill project

By building a grain-grinding mill in Gore, Ethiopia, the Rotary Club of Holland was trying to lessen the burden on Ethiopian women — many of whom grind their own grain by hand.

MEGAN SCHMIDT

By building a grain-grinding mill in Gore, Ethiopia, the Rotary Club of Holland was trying to lessen the burden on Ethiopian women — many of whom grind their own grain by hand.

Now the club also wants to lessen the burden on the environment, by powering that mill with solar panels.

“We’re still going to be building the mill, but it’s going to be more 21st century,” said Gary Bogle, organizer for the project, who will perform a vocal recital next month to raise money for the mill.

The mill project materialized after a conversation Bogle had with Ethiopian businessman Gebre Bekele at an international Rotary conference in Montreal.

Bekele told Bogle about Gore and what a difference an electric mill could make for the village. Women no longer would have to use stones to grind grain or travel long distances to reach a mill, he said.

Together, the Rotary clubs of Holland and Addis Ababa West in Ethiopia launched a plan to build a mill that could serve 30,000 people living in Gore and its outskirts.

In October, Bogle told The Sentinel the club had raised about $6,000 for the mill — which he estimated would cost $21,000 total, including purchase of the land, supplies, transformer installation and transportation of materials. They had hoped to have the money by January.

Plans have changed, however, and now the Rotary Club of Holland has until January 2013 to come up with the funds. In the mean time, Bogle said they have tacked on a few more pieces to the project, bringing the total to about $50,000.

Those pieces include not only the solar panels, but also two public restrooms, Bogle said.

It also includes 100 beehives for producing honey, coffee and fruit tree seedlings and school supplies for a local elementary school.

“We had originally talked about using solar panels, but were hesitant because the cost was going to be so great,” Bogle said. “With some new regulations from Rotary International, we changed some things because we have more time to figure it all out.”

The Gore mill’s completion will rely on funds from Rotary International, which recently specified that international service projects must cost $50,000 or more, Bogle said.

District and international Rotary Club matching grants will turn the $8,000 raised so far into about $45,000, Bogle said.

On May 13, Bogle will give a vocal recital at Zeeland’s Second Reformed Church, 225 E. Central Ave., to raise money for the mill project.

Bogle, former artistic director of the Holland Chorale, will sing a variety of solos from musical theater selections to Neapolitan folk songs.